Atiku absent as APC caucus passes vote of confidence on leadership

Atiku Abubakar, former vice-president, was absent as chieftains of the All Progressives Congress (APC) passed a vote of confidence on the leadership of the party.

Atiku had accused the government of President Muhammadu Buhari of sidelining him in spite of his efforts in bringing the party to power.

His accusation had come after Aisha Alhassan, minister of women affairs, had openly pitched her tent with Atiku ahead of the 2019 presidential election.

The caucus meeting of the party held Monday night in Aso Rock, Abuja, was presided over by the President.

Abdulaziz Yari, Zamfara state governor, said the meeting reinforced the unity, commitment, and strength of all members of the party.

“This meeting shows our unity in the party, shows our strength and our commitment to the party and to Nigerians,” he said.

Bukar Abba-Ibrahim, who also spoke on the outcome of the meeting, dismissed the speculation that it was convened to remove the leadership of the APC.

“You remember, you saw it in some of the newspapers. That our crises had deepened, APC is going to break, there is a plan to kick out our national chairman – none of these things happened,” he said.

“It is a big family reunion and we are all happy and this party is going to dominate the Nigerian political space for a very long time to come. I don’t want to predict any number of years.”

John Odigie-Oyegun, the party’s chairman, described the caucus as “very fantastic,” adding that the party would be stronger after its national executive council (NEC) meeting on Tuesday in Abuja.

NAN reports that the meeting was attended by Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo, Bola Tinubu, Bisi Akande, cabinet ministers and presidential aides.

Governors of Plateau, Adamawa, Bauchi, Borno, Sokoto, Niger, Kogi, Jigawa, Benue, Ondo, Oyo, Ogun, Kebbi, Nasarawa as well as deputy governors of Kwara and Yobe states also attended the meeting.

Members of the national assembly including senators Rabiu Kwankwaso and Adamu Alieru as well as the new secretary to the government of the federation, Boss Mustapha, also attended the caucus which lasted for over three hours.